Johnny Gator by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

good now.”
    “Are
you ill?”
      “Scared,” he admitted.
    “I
can call Tirzah.” Nola reached for her purse with her phone tucked inside.
    “No!”
he cried, then drew a harsh breath and held it. “Not yet. Let me think about
it.”
    She
nodded. “Okay. Are you all right? You look like hell.”
    “ Comme ci, comme ca,” Johnny replied and waggled his hand to indicate not
so good .
    Concern
replaced her urgent need to do something about his shape-shifting life. “What
do you need? Is there something I can do? Maybe you should go lie down for a while.”
    “Won’t
help,” he said. A ghost of his usual grin appeared. “What I need, though, is
you, before you change your mind or run out of here and decide I’m too crazy to
deal with or something.”
    Nola
didn’t understand. “I’m here, Johnny.”
    The
grin expanded across his face. “ Oui , but I need at
least one time to make memories to remember, just in case.”
    Johnny
shoved back his chair and offered her his hand.   She accepted it, still uncertain if he wanted to dance or talk or
what.   When he pulled her against his
bare chest, then planted his mouth on hers, she understood.   Nola kissed him back with all the passionate
enthusiasm she could summon.
    Heat,
powerful as a flame, leapt between them, and she knew they’d make love.
    Johnny
traced her lips with his finger and she shivered with an erotic chill.   “This is what I want, cher .”
    Before
she could speak, his deft hands shucked her T-shirt and revealed her silk
camisole. As he cradled her against his chest, he kissed her throat, then down
to the spot between her breasts.   Johnny’s breath burned her skin, and although he hadn’t touched them,
her nipples grew firm.   Nola raked her
hands through his hair.   He slid one hand
beneath her cami , caressed her belly, then worked his fingers upward to stroke Nola’s breast.   Her sensitive nipples tightened and an
exquisite sensation spiraled through her body, sweet and tense.   Johnny lowered one thin strap and bared her
left breast.   He suckled and her nipple
radiated with pleasure.   Nola thought
she’d come with the intensity of it but steeled herself to wait for much more.
    She
savored each second of physical delight but Nola longed for kisses, too.   With Johnny’s strong left arm beneath her
head and body, she shifted upward to put her lips against his. “Kiss me.”
    “I
can’t say no to a lady,” he murmured as his mouth swooped over hers like an
invading army.   His lips attached to hers
with a vacuum seal and clung tight.   Nola’s mouth answered his assault with eager exchange.   He tasted of the beer they’d drunk and
something more, not quite defined, and she savored it.   Johnny’s kiss deepened and in response Nola’s
heartbeat kicked into high gear.   Her
pulse rate increased and her breath slowed as they kissed until she felt
dizzy.   She enjoyed it too much to quit.
    His
mouth brought her to the brink and when Johnny cuddled her against his chest
and managed to find his feet while still holding her in his arms, Nola thought
she’d die with anticipation.   He carried
her into the bedroom and put her on the bed.   With a dancer’s grace and the speed of a stripper, Johnny removed his
garments and Nola ogled his lean body.   His muscles rippled beneath smooth flesh. He radiated plenty of energy
and sensual appeal.   Nola reached to
unfasten her jeans but he beat her to the act. “Let me,” Johnny said as he
worked the zipper and pulled the pants down.   Johnny caught hold of her silken panties and jerked them out of the
way.   Then he lifted her cami over her head and left her bare.
    Cooler
air from the window blew over her skin and she tingled at the contrast but Nola
wasn’t cold.   Heat shimmered between
their bodies, invisible but real enough to keep back any chill.   Nola suffered a series of erotic shivers as
Johnny ran his hands over her body.   His
calloused fingers